MUSLIM FAMILIES LIVING NEAR U.P. TEMPLE LIKELY TO BE RELOCATED OVER ‘SECURITY’

Muslim families living in the vicinity of the Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur are likely to be relocated in the wake of the state government’s plan to bolster security around the complex.

Though nine families in the area (Purana Gorakhpur Tappa, Kasba Pargana Haveli, Tehsil Sadar, Gorakhpur) have agreed to transfer their houses and land in favour of the state government, two have rejected the district administration’s offer for compensation and allotment of land at an alternative site.

District magistrate (Gorakhpur) K Vijendra Pandian said there was no coercion by the district administration on the 11 families to vacate their houses.

“The administration will acquire their property only after their consent. The houses are being vacated on the direction of the state government, on the basis of the report submitted by security agencies. The families will be given adequate compensation and the district administration will facilitate their relocation also. There is no religious angle in the shifting of these families,” he said.

A district administration officer said the boundary wall of the Gorakhnath temple runs parallel to the 11 houses located on the southeast corner of the temple premises. UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who is the head priest of the temple, stays in the residential complex on the temple premises during his visits to Gorakhpur. “Hence, security agencies are reviewing and assessing the CM’S security during his stay on the temple premises,” Pandian said.

A local trader, Mohammad Islam, said: “If the state government shifts them to another location, they will face problems of livelihood.”

LUCKNOW:

THE DISTRICT MAGISTRATE SAID THERE WAS NO COERCION BY THE ADMINISTRATION ON THE FAMILIES TO VACATE HOMES